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David Gedalia, Atari-controlled Telescope
Listener Paul Somerfeldt sent me a blurb he found in a book titled "The Dobsonian Telescope" by David Kriege and Richard Berry. The book reads: "Computer-controlled Dobsonian telescopes entered amateur astronomy in the late 1980s. An outstanding early example was David Gedalia\'s 10-inch f/4.5 Dobsonian driven by an Atari 800XL computer, shown at the 1987 Riverside Telescope Makers Conference. With the Atari driving altitude and azimuth stepper-motors, the telescope would move automatically to coordinates entered on the computer\\u2019s keyboard. David was a third-year engineering student when he built this telescope."
I sought out David to find out more about his Atari-controlled telescope.
This interview took place on May 29, 2020.
Photos of David with his telescope
The Dobsonian Telescope by David Kriege and Richard Berry